CHAPTER 7

My hands were still shaking when I arrived back at Drovers. It was almost 6 pm and there was a peaceful darkness around the house. I was still worryied about Lewis. Mark had been so calm, I wondered if it happened often. I saw the small smile on Mark's face and knew it would be okay so I began to think about something else.

I found myself thinking about Tyler and why he hadn't called yet. İ knew it was useless because I knew he never would call me and while I wasn't exactly sad about it. I was just a little hurt, that he threw away all those sweet moments we had shared for years..

'Who could Mark be, if he isnt Lewis's son?' I wondered and then an answer so obvious popped into my head, I wondered why it handnt been my first thought. He must be some kind of nurse who had been hired to look after Lewis. No matter who he was, I had to agree and accept that he was hot and he would hopefully be a part of my life. I found myself grinning stupidly as I thought about him.

I shook my head and made my way into the kitchen to make myself some coffee. It had been a long day… I was searching around for a mug and I jumped back as the cupboard door slammed, barely missing my hand. I sighed to myself and trying to stay calm, gathered my thoughts. Cupboards can slam anywhere in the wind, I reasoned. I glanced slowly at the window above the sink. It wasn't open…

"Forget the coffee," I grumbled to myself and headed to the door out of the kitchen. A hot shower would be good.

I climbed the stairs and made my way to the bathroom. Although I wouldn't admit it, even to myself, I was getting really bored in that house alone. and I was getting a little bit scared… I always tried to find some work to do to distract me from thinking about the spooky stuff. The voices I had heard and the visions I had seen seemed to stick with me and move with me everywhere I went.

I stood in the shower, under the hot water, thinking about my childhood memories with grandma. Had she ever told me anything about her family, about the fight? I remembered her telling me how great her mother was with horses. I remembered how much she had adored her mother and how she had been used to love her stepfather once, but then how she had hated him. She had never mentioned about how her mother died, or why she hated her stepfather. But now I had started to understand…

I climbed out of the shower and got dressed. Turning around, I noticed something on the mirror. Some words were appeared.as if someone was standing there writing them.

"First drawer." The words appeared, unexplained and strange.

There was no one around. It was just me. I sucked in my breath and moved closer to the mirror whispering 'Stay calm Anita, just stay calm. It's just a dream' to myself, and wiped the words off. And I nearly jumped when I saw a little girl instead of my own pale, wide-eyed reflection.

"Grandma?" I asked. She put her hand up to the glass, touching it from the other side. I pulled my shaky hand up and did the same. The sudden jingle of the doorbell changed the atmosphere and broke the tense feeling in the bathroom. I turned my head to the bathroom door as a reflex. When I looked back at the mirror I could only see only hand. 'Damn you Anita!' I thought back as I stared at my confused and scared face.

I went downstairs and taking a deep breath walked towards the front door and opened it to see Mark Weller smiling out there.

"Hi," he said, the smile that made me melt plastered on his face.

"Hi. Is everything alright?" I asked worried, palely returning some sort of smile. "How is Lewis?"

"Oh he's fine," he replied. "I just stopped by to see how you were."

"I said 'first drawer,' you stupid little girl," a female voice yelled at me from upstairs. I froze and did not move for a good five seconds. Everything seemed to have stopped in its place. It was grandma's voice, I had heard.

It was so weird to hear someone you knew, you loved and who was ded. But it was her. I wanted to run to her and give her a big hug. But I knew she wasn't really there. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and looked into Mark's eyes and said nothing.

She yelled again and I ignored her, whispering 'Breathe, Anita,' under my breath, a soothing, calming mantra that Mark assumed was irritated grumbling, which was evident by his next words.

"What?" I asked, looking at him.

"I said I had better come some other time. When you're not so busy," he said, stepping back. He looked at me apologetically. "I didnt know that you had company!"

"What?" I asked in shock.

"Well, someone is calling out for you" he said, He had assumed that I was taking care of someone and was angered they had interrupted me at that time. He pointed inside the house and then put his hand back in his pocket again and smiled at me. His smile faltered when he noticed the look on my face. "What's wrong, Anita? You look you've seen a ghost?"

"YOU HEARD THAT?" I cried, shrilly. I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. "You heard that voice?"

"Well, yeah. I did," he replied, a concerned and confused expression crossing his face. "What's the problem?"